RADJENOVIC, RUSH BLAST STEELHEADS

(RAPID CITY, SD) – Andrew Radnovic notched a three-point with two goals and an assist, and Adam Carlson stopped all but one of 33 shots on net to secure the Rapid City Rush a dominating 4-1 win over the Idaho Steelheads on Friday night.  The win splits the three-game series in Rapid City, and sets up a rubber match between the heated rivals for tomorrow night.

For the first time since November 7th against Fort Wayne, the Rush provided the game’s first goal.  With 3:38 gone by in the contest, a mad scramble in front of the net led to a juicy rebound off of a Dylan Quaile shot to Rapid City’s leading goal-scorer, Andrew Radjenovic.  Radjenovic fired the puck into a high-traffic area, and it squeaked between the legs of Idaho goalie Tomas Sholl to put the Rush up 1-0 with his team-leading seventh of the season (Michael Turner and Dylan Quaile assisted).  Just shy of the midway point of the period, the Rush went to their first power play and hit paydirt to double their lead.  With 10:55 left in the frame, another scramble led to a big rebound, where Josh Elmes crashed off the blue line and rifled a shot by Sholl to make it a 2-0 Rush lead with his team-leading third power play goal of the season (Shaquille Merasty and Pierre-Luc Mercier assisted).  Adam Carlson saw all 11 shots he saw in the frame, and saw his team in front of him nearly match their 60-minute total on Wednesday night of 23, shooting 21 times on Sholl.

Andrew Radjenovic exacerbated the Rush lead with his team-leading second shorthanded goal of the season for his second of the contest.  With 5:40 played in the second, on the second Steelheads power play, Willem Nong-Lambert sprung Radjenovic on a break up the ice.  Radjenovic deked Sholl out and finished on his forehand to give the Rush a 3-0 lead (Nong-Lambert earned the lone assist).  Tempers between both teams flared, as 82 PIM were registered between both of the heated Mountain Division rivals, very much expected as both teams played a fifth consecutive game tonight.  Carlson again remained perfect, staving off another 11 Steelheads shots.

Quintin Lisoway added his name to the goal column with his first goal as a professional less than a minute into the third to quadruple the Rush lead.  With just 58 seconds played, Radjenovic and Nong-Lambert came down on a two-on-one break, and Radjenovic’s shot produced a rebound that Lisoway slammed by Sholl to make it a 4-0 lead (Radjenovic notched the lone assist).  Carlson’s shutout was broken shortly after on the final Steelheads power play of the game when Reid Petryk tucked a rebound in close range to bring the game to its final score of 4-1.

Adam Carlson picked up his fifth win of the season, stopping all but one of 33 shots on net (5-3-2-0).

The Rush finally conclude their stretch of six consecutive matchups against the Idaho Steelheads, with game six of the series, and the third in Rapid City, to be played on tomorrow on Saturday, November 24th at Premier Home Mortgage Ice in Rushmore Plaza Civic Center, with puck drop slated for 7:05 p.m. MST.

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